# Charley Mitchell (boxer)

Charles Watson Mitchell (24 November 1861-3 April 1918) was an English world heavyweight boxing title contender and lightweight champion.

## Professional career

Mitchell was born on 24 November, 1861 in the city of Birmingham, England. Mitchell had exceptional ability at using London Prize Ring Rules to his advantage. During his career, he engaged in over 100 fights with both gloves and bare-knuckles, using the London Prize Ring Rules as well as the Queensberry Rules. He often fought men who outweighed him by 30 to 40 pounds. Mitchell took on all comers in London, often fighting as many as four bouts in one night.
In 1880 he became the boxing instructor for the International Athletic Club at the "White Rose" in London, and opened a boxing school at the "Palais Rubens" in Antwerp, Belgium.
In 1882 Billy Madden, the former tutor and backer of John L. Sullivan, put on an openweight boxing tournament in England, in order to find a challenger for John L. Sullivan. This was a professional tournament, held under amateur rules, consisting of 3 3 minute rounds, with an extra 2 minute round being fought in the case of draws, A number of prominent boxers including Jem Goode and Jack Knifton entered. Despite being both the youngest and lightest of the 21 competitors, Mitchell won the tournament.
Mitchell toured the United States and Canada with Jake Kilrain, and later Frank "Paddy" Slavin, putting on exhibitions, sometimes daily and sometimes on the same day as one of his fights. Mitchell was in Kilrain's corner on 8 July 1889 when he fought John L. Sullivan for the world heavyweight boxing championship.
Mitchell fought John L. Sullivan in 1883, knocking him down in the first round before the police halted the contest in the third round. Their second meeting took place in 1888 on the grounds of a chateau at Chantilly, France in driving rain. It went on for more than two hours, at the end of which both men were unrecognisable and had suffered much loss of blood; neither could lift his arms to punch and the contest was considered a draw.
The local gendarmerie arrived at this point and managed to arrest Mitchell, who spent the next few days in a cell and was later fined by the local magistrate, boxing being illegal in France at that time. Sullivan managed to evade the law, swathed in bandages, and was taken back across the English Channel to spend the next few weeks convalescing in Liverpool. Mitchell acted as Sullivan's corner man for many years after.
In 1894 Mitchell fought in his most noteworthy bout, against James J Corbett for the world heavyweight championship. Corbett won by KO in the 3rd round, winning $20,000.

## Death

Mitchell died on 3 April 1918 in Hove at age 56.

## Honors

Mitchell was inducted into the Ring Magazine's Boxing Hall of Fame in 1957, and inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame (2002).

## Professional boxing record

| 50 fights | 26 wins | 3 losses |
| By knockout | 9 | 2 |
| By decision | 17 | 1 |
| Draws | 11 | 11 |
| No contests | 10 | 10 |
| No. | Result | Record | Opponent | Type | Round, time | Date | Location | Notes |
| 50 | ND | 26–3–11 (10) | Steve O'Donnell | ND | 3 | May 25, 1896 | Putney, London, England, UK | |
| 49 | Loss | 26–3–11 (9) | James J. Corbett | KO | 3 (?) | Jan 25, 1894 | Duvall Athletic Club, Jacksonville, Florida, US | For world heavyweight title |
| 48 | ND | 26–2–11 (9) | Jim Hall | ND | 3 | Oct 4, 1893 | People"s Theatre, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 47 | ND | 26–2–11 (8) | Jim Hall | ND | 3 | Sep 29, 1893 | Clermont Avenue Rink, New York City, New York, US | |
| 46 | ND | 26–2–11 (7) | Frank Slavin | ND | 3 | Mar 7, 1892 | Buffalo A.C., Buffalo, New York, US | |
| 45 | Win | 26–2–11 (6) | Arthur Upham | PTS | 4 | Mar 2, 1892 | Olympic Club, New Orleans, Louisiana, US | Second fight in one day |
| 44 | ND | 25–2–11 (6) | Frank Slavin | ND | 4 | Mar 2, 1892 | Olympic Club, New Orleans, Louisiana, US | |
| 43 | ND | 25–2–11 (5) | Frank Slavin | ND | 3 | Apr 30, 1891 | New York City, New York, US | |
| 42 | ND | 25–2–11 (4) | Frank Slavin | ND | 3 | Apr 9, 1891 | Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK | |
| 41 | Win | 25–2–11 (3) | Jem Mace | PTS | 4 | Feb 7, 1890 | Gaiety Theatre, Glasgow, Scotland, UK | |
| 40 | Draw | 24–2–11 (3) | John L. Sullivan | PTS | 39 | Feb 10, 1889 | Chantilly, Oise, France | For world bare-knuckle heavyweight boxing title; London Prize Ring Rules |
| 39 | Win | 24–2–10 (3) | Reddy Gallagher | PTS | 6 | Aug 28, 1887 | Frankfort St. Gym, Cleveland, Ohio, US | |
| 38 | Draw | 23–2–10 (3) | Patsy Cardiff | PTS | 5 | Jun 11, 1887 | Washington Roller Rink, Minneapolis, Minnesota, US | There were two referees, Masterson for Mitchell, and Hank Seeley for Cardiff, each pronounced his man the victor at the end |
| 37 | Draw | 23–2–9 (3) | Jack Burke | PTS | 10 (8) | May 10, 1886 | Battery D Armory, Chicago, Illinois, US | Two extra rounds ordered by the referee |
| 36 | Draw | 23–2–8 (3) | Jack Burke | PTS | 6 | Jun 29, 1885 | Battery D Armory, Chicago, Illinois, US | |
| 35 | Draw | 23–2–7 (3) | Mike Cleary | PTS | 4 | May 22, 1885 | Pavilion, San Francisco, California, US | |
| 34 | Win | 23–2–6 (3) | John Scholes | PTS | 4 | Feb 23, 1885 | Mutual Street Rink, Toronto, Ontario, Canada | |
| 33 | Win | 22–2–6 (3) | Jim Brady | KO | 3 (?) | Dec, 1884 | Buffalo, New York, US | Exact date unknown |
| 32 | ND | 21–2–6 (3) | Jack Burke | NC | 3 (8) | Nov 24, 1884 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US | |
| 31 | Draw | 21–2–6 (2) | Jack Burke | PTS | 4 | Oct 21, 1884 | Germania Assembly Rooms, New York City, New York, US | |
| 30 | Loss | 21–2–5 (2) | Dominick McCaffrey | PTS | 4 | Oct 13, 1884 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US | |
| 29 | Win | 21–1–5 (2) | Billy Edwards | KO | 3 (?) | May 12, 1884 | New York City, New York, US | Police stopped the fight |
| 28 | Draw | 20–1–5 (2) | Jake Kilrain | PTS | 4 | Mar 26, 1884 | Institute Hall, Boston, Massachusetts, US | |
| 27 | Win | 20–1–4 (2) | Joe Denning | PTS | 4 | Mar 20, 1884 | New York City, New York, US | |
| 26 | Win | 19–1–4 (2) | Tug Wilson | KO | 3 (?) | Nov 15, 1883 | Manchester, Lancashire, UK | |
| 25 | Draw | 18–1–4 (2) | William Sherriff | PTS | 7 (6) | Oct 2, 1883 | Flushing, Queens, New York City, New York, US | Referee first declared Mitchell the winner, another round was fought and the fight was called a draw |
| 24 | Draw | 18–1–3 (2) | Herbert Maori Slade | PTS | 3 | Oct, 1883 | Harry Hills, Long Island, New York, US | |
| 23 | Win | 18–1–2 (2) | Herbert Maori Slade | KO | ? | Sep 18, 1883 | New York City, New York, US | |
| 22 | ND | 17–1–2 (2) | Billy Lynn | ND | 4 | Jul 8, 1883 | Leadville, Colorado, US | |
| 21 | ND | 17–1–2 (1) | Denis Ike Hayes | ND | 4 | Jul 6, 1883 | Leadville, Colorado, US | |
| 20 | Win | 17–1–2 | Davis | KO | 1 (?) | Jul, 1883 | Leadville, Colorado, US | |
| 19 | Win | 16–1–2 | Garrett | KO | 1 (?) | Jun, 1883 | Syracuse, New York, US | |
| 18 | Loss | 15–1–2 | John L. Sullivan | TKO | 3 (?) | May 14, 1883 | Madison Square Garden, New York City, New York, US | |
| 17 | Win | 15–0–2 | Mike Cleary | TKO | 3 (?) | Apr 9, 1883 | American Institute Rink, New York City, New York, US | Police stopped the fight |
| 16 | Win | 14–0–2 | Jack Clarke | TKO | 1 (?) | Feb 17, 1883 | Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, England, UK | |
| 15 | Win | 13–0–2 | Joe Stubbins | PTS | 3 | Dec 23, 1882 | St. George's Hall, London, England, UK | Third fight in one day |
| 14 | Win | 12–0–2 | W. Heal | PTS | 3 | Dec 23, 1882 | St. George's Hall, London, England, UK | Second fight in one day |
| 13 | Win | 11–0–2 | Dick Roberts | PTS | 3 | Dec 23, 1882 | St. George's Hall, London, England, UK | |
| 12 | Win | 10–0–2 | Bill Springhall | PTS | 3 | Dec 22, 1882 | King's Road Baths, London, England, UK | |
| 11 | Win | 9–0–2 | Bill England | PTS | 3 | Dec 21, 1882 | King's Road Baths, London, England, UK | Second fight in one day |
| 10 | Win | 8–0–2 | George Cox | PTS | 3 | Dec 21, 1882 | King's Road Baths, London, England, UK | |
| 9 | Win | 7–0–2 | Roger Wallis | PTS | ? | May, 1882 | Exact location unknown, UK | |
| 8 | Win | 6–0–2 | Bill Harnetty | PTS | 4 | Apr 3, 1882 | King's Road Baths, London, England, UK | |
| 7 | Win | 5–0–2 | Pat Condon | PTS | 3 | Mar 29, 1882 | King's Road Baths, London, England, UK | |
| 6 | Draw | 4–0–2 | Tom Tully | PTS | 6 | May 16, 1881 | Exact location unknown, UK | |
| 5 | Win | 4–0–1 | W. Caradoff | PTS | 4 | Feb 1, 1881 | Antwerpen, Belgium | |
| 4 | Draw | 3–0–1 | Young Bill Kennedy | PTS | ? | Jan, 1879 | Exact location unknown, UK | Exact date unknown |
| 3 | Win | 3–0 | Chelsea Pride | KO | 2 (?) | Mar, 1877 | Exact location unknown, UK | Exact date unknown |
| 2 | Win | 2–0 | Hutchinson | PTS | ? | Feb, 1877 | Exact location unknown, UK | Exact date unknown |
| 1 | Win | 1–0 | Andy Gray | PTS | ? | Jan, 1877 | Exact location unknown, UK | Exact date unknown |